I just can't. You are the worst kind of person and I wish Hell was a real place because any sort of higher being with an ounce of common sense would see you as true evil and not any of these promiscuous individuals/homosexuals/voodoo practisers/tattooees/people wearing mixed fabrics/shellfish eaters and all the others deemed to be sinners in the jazzed up storybook

~polite cough~

I did say that that was the end of the discussion on this level.

apologies, my blood had already boiled before I saw you'd posted after him

I entirely understand.

The man who was sectioned is going to be charged with murder.

The law really needs to start coming down like a ton of bricks on people found to be carrying knives in public. There is no excuse for it at all.

There are plenty of reasons to carry knives in public – you buy one in a shop and you have to carry it home, for instance. Chefs carry their own knives around.

People might have penknives for all sorts of things – fishing, for instance.

There are plenty of entirely legitimate reasons that someone might be carrying a knife in public. We've already gone bonkers to the point of having the sort of bans in place that penalise carrying a fold-up fruit knife.

I bought one in France the other year – an Opinel. Used it on holiday, Brought it home and, the following year, out it in my bag, with my picnic for the journey, to take back.

I got stopped at St Pancras and it was confiscated. Bonkers.

Indeed. And of course such measures which entirely frustrate and pis5 off so many honest citizens do absolutely nothing, at all, to deter prevent or reduce knife crime.

I had a corkscrew confiscated at Manchester airport.
It had a tiny, tiny blade at one end for cutting through the capsule seal on a wine bottle ... that counted as a blade said the guy, size wasn't important.

Indeed.

Bet his wife doesn't share his view.

Pffft. I once had a set of vernier callipers confiscated at Birmingham airport. Apparently the risk that I might measure someone to death was too high to take.

So does this seem to indicate that the UK has a tendency to make bad law as a knee-jerk reaction to some particularly notorious crimes – and then such laws are enforced by tin-pot dictators without an ounce of common sense or, frankly, much intelligence?

It does, yes.

Far too easy for the 'tin-pots' to quote the 'law' than apply a little common sense.

Indeed. In fact the 'pointy objects' ban at airports is laughable given what you can buy in the shops once you've passed through security.

So, is it that the UK has a particular ability for producing such 'jobsworths' or do other countries have the same issue but simply legislate better?

I was a frequent user of Frankfurt airport a while back and there's one bit of one of the far-flung terminals that was used primarily for flights to the USA. After 11/9, security on this bit was ramped up beyond that of the rest of the airport - extra checks, more restrictions etc. However, beyond the last additional metal detector/x-ray malarkey... was a steak restaurant. With big, eff-off steak knives.

I do think that we have an ability to produce 'jobsworths' ... as for other countries, as someone who rarely travels abroad, in truth I don't feel fully qualified to offer an opinion.

If you fly Business Class or higher they give you metal cutlery for free on the aircraft.

Only a moron would even think about taking their own knife or similar for whatever dastardly deed they had in mind once on board. There's simply no need. It's a quite literally pointless prohibition.

Ah well, mere plebs like me wouldn't know about that. A tiny Lufthansa sarnie was all we got.

But are you sure it was Lufthansa? Chances are, it was Pferd.

That just made me



Mrs 28 had the nail file part of a pair of nail clippers snapped off and disposed of at Birmingham Airport a few years back. Pretty sure it was Magda Goebbels that did it too. Well a humourless jobsworth at any rate.

As long as she didn't try and give your kids any smarties.

A penknife?

On any fishing trip I can usually be found to be in possession of:

[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Martiini-Superflex-7-Fillet-Knife/dp/B001BTLSKA/ref=sr_1_18?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1363410190&sr=1-18A Marttini filleting knife[/url - the best on the market if you're interested

A bait cutting knife - shorter, more sturdy blade

A gutting knife - shorter blade than the bait knife and incorporates a kidney tool for bleeding the fish

These are usually in my bag until I'm on the boat or beach but I suppose I'm still open to carrying a concealed weapon

I always have a penknife or multitool with me when I fish which could be classed as carrying a bladed instrument in a public place. The three foot long pointed banksticks I take with me could also be classed as offensive weapons. The law as it is depends on you having a good reason to carry the blade e.g. just bought a set of cooking knives. If the law was enforced to a stupid extent any carpenter walking to work carrying his tools in a bag could be done for carrying an offensive weapon or going equipped.

I recently came across one of those real life Police documentaries filmed in the UK while flicking through the channels. They had stopped a young motorist and while searching him/car found a multitool and said they were confiscating the said bladed instrument that he was "carrying in public". The motorist became irate and pointed out that the extendable wheel brace he had in the car could also be used as a weapon and that both were items one might expect to be carried by a motorist. None-the-less the multitool was confiscated. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that the young motorist was black!

Honest, our Police aren't institutionally racist!